Open AccessTHE 1999 SCHERING LECTURE: Cancer: The long and winding road
Author(s) -
Trish Picherak
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
canadian oncology nursing journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2368-8076
pISSN - 1181-912X
DOI - 10.5737/1181912x1025055
Subject(s) - cognitive reframing , active listening , privilege (computing) , psychology , palliative care , affect (linguistics) , nursing , medicine , social psychology , psychotherapist , law , political science , communication
Control, hope, uncertainty, and spirituality are not new phenomena, but perhaps we can see them in a different light. We still have much to learn about how these phenomena influence and are influenced by the cancer experience. I have asked you to reflect and consider how you, in your own practice, and your nursing colleagues can reframe cancer as a long-term condition. I have asked you to consider how this may change the ways in which you interact with clients and families. How refocusing might affect the care provided to travellers on the trip of a lifetime; the journey of cancer and the impact nursing can have on that journey. Are we ready to accept the opportunity to be part of someone's story--to journey with them? In their paper on the myth of control of suffering in palliative care, Gregory and English (1994) concluded that, "Reaching out is accomplished through presence, touch and careful listening" (p 22). People experiencing cancer choose those who will journey with them, offering a privilege of the maximal magnitude.